About Us
The practice of vascular and Interventional Radiology in India started way back in the 1970s and gained momentum in the mid 80s. Earlier, it was only available in few isolated centres of excellence providing tertiary care. The specialty provided diagnostic as well as therapeutic treatment options for a variety of vascular and oncology-related ailments, as well as several life-saving emergencies. Intervention Radiologists use the most advanced and minimally invasive methods to treat various conditions.
Many institutes around the country perform different IR procedures involving various organ systems, including the cardiovascular, hepatobiliary, genitourinary, neurological, gastrointestinal, and musculoskeletal systems. Furthermore, the IR community has been carrying out state-of-the-art experimental and clinical research.
The Indian association of Vascular & Interventional Radiology (ISVIR) was originally organised in 1988. With 28 founding members, the association was formally founded on November 7, 1997, taking on its current form. The society has progressed greatly since then. With more than 1200 members now, the society engages in a wide range of activities. These include organising monthly local, quarterly zonal, and yearly national level scientific events, as well as establishing a nationwide network of state branches and zonal chapters.
The state chapter of the Chandigarh, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh was established in 2016 with 10 founding members with the objective of organising Intervention-related awareness and training programmes in the region.
The Chapter concluded its first conference with Dr Niranjan Khandelwal as President and Dr Mandeep Kang as the organising secretary on the theme ‘Interventional Radiology: what every Radiologist needs to know” at PGIMER which was attended by more than 150 delegates from 10 medical colleges of the region. The primary goal of the society, which drew inspiration from the national society, was to raise awareness of intervention radiology services and encourage their regional extension in the region. Presently the state chapter has more than 70 members.
The organization has successfully organised many annual events, which featured didactic lectures, symposia on contemporary issues, hands on workshops which are centred on raising the awareness among radiology residents. Additionally, it organises many regional CME events on locally relevant subjects each year. The society also came up with the unique idea of conducting intervention radiology outreach programme, which is organised every year to raise awareness and broaden perspectives about the discipline in newer cities and locations. The society has conducted these successful outreach programs at Shimla, Jodhpur, Rishikesh, Udaipur and Bhopal.
To increase the awareness amongst fellow clinicians, the society has started Multidisciplinary symposium and the first was conducted in 2023 on the theme ‘Stroke’. With the aim of imparting education and awareness to the budding young doctors the society also started the YOUTH (Youngster Outreach for Undergraduates Trainees in Hospitals and medical colleges) programme and the first was conducted at GMCH 32 in 2023.